Fall Fête Food

“My weaknesses have always been food and men, in that order.” –Dolly Parton

Now we get to the fun stuff!  Food!

A centerpiece food item is a must.  For this event, I wanted something comforting and warm for the season of ultimate comfort food. 

I decided on tomato soup shots with mini grilled cheese dipping sticks.  A conversation piece, Pinterest-worthy, and super easy to make.

I used a recipe I will be posting next week for a CrockPot tomato soup as I am fairly new at the art of the CrockPot.  But it turned out amazing.  I cannot give this recipe enough kudos.  I omitted the extra parmesan cheese on it for garnish because I let guests serve themselves.

The grilled cheese sticks were great, I pre-made two batches which was enough (one loaf of Arnold’s white bread and provolone).  I made sure there were some for guests when they arrived and then made the second batch of grilled cheeses after a couple of hours. 

What I love about this combo is it’s easy to prep and most is done ahead of time, so you can enjoy your time with your guests!

I also made sure to have a nice cheese plate (all great parties should).  My go-tos for a delicious cheese plate: a soft blue like Saga or Cambanzola, brie, manchego and cheddar. 

Trader Joe’s and Costco are phenomenal places for cheap cheeses.  I specialized this party’s cheese by using an apple spiced cheddar from TJ’s – so good! For some protein I bought salame and prosciutto, and for a crunch I included some spiced pumpkin seeds. 

For a twist on the standard “chips and dip” I went for a black bean dip with sweet potato and corn tortilla chips (to keep with the fall/Halloween theme).  I loveeee the sweet potato chips from Trader Joe’s!  Black bean is super easy to make, and I was also able to make it head of time! 

To decorate (what is normally my desk - see above) I put down a dark fall table cloth.  I always use a darker cloth with my savory food because there will always be messes!  I LOVE Paper Source for cute accents – like the skull candle and the sugar skull plate. 

Also you can never go wrong with small pumpkins – to keep with the elegance I bought white and tiger striped pumpkins.  They added the perfect elegant flourish with my other decorative candles (yes - I have a glitter black cat candle).

I would definitely recommend investing in some nice simple candlesticks that you can change out your candles for seasons.  I got these at Anthropologie and they always look elegant and festive!